Brailsford on Froome-Wiggins combo at 2014 Tour: ‘I’d love to do it’

LONDON (AFP) — Sky boss Dave Brailsford would love to see the last two Tour de France winners Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins lining up together when the race heads to Great Britain next year.

Froome, who won the centenary edition of cycling’s biggest race on Sunday, and Wiggins, who became the first British winner last year, reportedly do not enjoy the easiest of relationships.

But Brailsford said he would still “absolutely love” to see the pair working together when the Tour starts in the northern English city of Leeds in 2014.

“I’d love to do it,” he said, dismissing concerns that the riders’ apparent differences would not make for a happy team.

Wiggins, 33, followed up his victory in 2012 with a gold medal in the Olympic time trial in London. He was also knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and won the BBC’s prestigious Sports Personality of the Year.

But he has endured a frustrating 2013, hampered by illness and injury that forced him to withdraw from the Giro d’Italia in May and sit out the Tour de France.

Wiggins said in June that he may not try to win the Tour again and suggested the 28-year-old Froome would be the man to beat in the race in the next few years.

Brailsford, however, said that Wiggins was “very, very motivated” for his return this weekend in the Tour of Poland and in good shape to target the world championships in Florence, Italy, in September.

The Sky principal said he was not ruling anything out for next season but having Froome as defending champion as the Tour heads to Britain was “brilliant.”